Amelia's Little Miss Greenjeans

Still working on a Little Miss Greenjeans for Amelia. Love the Bendigo Rustic - lovely to knit with and not itchy. Love the pattern but sorry purple people I am not loving the colour (though it is better then most purples) - I am not a purple person.
I made some small quilts for the last Upmarket and surprisingly sold a few of them. So I have cut some more out and will take some more to the next one.

Not much else to write about this week unless you want to hear about the vomiting and washing that has been going on here, but thankfully it seems to be over now.

Sunday Pictures

A little more progress on my quilt for the Down Under Doll Quilt Swap.
A rare sight in my house - all the quilts folded neatly.

Sockhead Hat

A new hat for me modelled by Eva.
Pattern - Sockhead Hat.
Yarn - Socks That Rock Lightweight and the colour is A Walk on the Wildtide.
More details on Ravelry.
Now it is back out to the sunshine to prune more roses.

Blackwork

Because you can never have too many crafts in your life I could not resist this book when I saw it recently. Made In France Blackwork by Sonia Lucano. Lots of lovely pictures and lovely blackwork patterns and great ways you can use them. I am thinking some of these designs would look good in cream cotton on red or sage linen.

Two New Patterns

I have two new quilt patterns available (only in pdf at the moment). The big version of Tulip Wonderland was in Homespun Magazine earlier this year. I have written up the pattern for a smaller quilt so you can choose which size to make it in.
This pattern is great if you have one layer cake but want to make a quite a big quilt - you just need a few metres or yards of some contrasting fabric. This quilt measures 180cm x 225cm (72in x 90in).

They are available here and here.

The old man is...

Me: It's raining, it's pouring. The old man is...
Eva: Dad
She's a keeper that one.
Some cutting I have been doing this weekend.

Simple Smock Top

A simple smock top for Evie. I love these tops on Posie Gets Cozy and remembered I had seen some like them in one of my Japanese pattern books.

Pattern from his book. ISBN 4834727722 It is full of very very easy patterns - elastic skirts, shorts and simple tops.

Knitting Lessons and Quilt Progress

I turned my quilt block into 4 blocks and added some sashing and a border. I have a plan to try some hand quilting with perle cotton. I am not sure how I think I will just start with some outlines and see where it goes.
I cut up a large piece of yellow Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy for the back. This seemed like the perfect use for it.

Doll Quilt Swap progress - I have a background kind of based on my Spinning in Orbit quilt which is in Pretty Little Mini Quilts. I have a plan for some applique on top.

The girls have been wanting to learn to knit for a while. I wasn't sure I had the patience to teach them, but the cold and rainy weather this week meant we had a lot of time indoors and we gave it a go. We have been doing little bits throughout the day which works well for my short amount of patience and their short attention spans.

Coat for Grace

I have some thick corduroy I wanted to use for coats, but unbelievably with the amount of patterns I own I could not find one I wanted to use. Luckily Etsy saved the day. I found this pattern on Saturday morning and by yesterday afternoon it was finished. I do love the internet.

It is lined with some of the fabric I bought last week. I didn't make any changes to the pattern - just cut the back in one piece instead of two and I didn't follow the instructions for sewing the yokes to the front and back. Sewing curves doesn't worry me so I just sewed them normally.

I do love to make my patterns and try to make new things, but I also love it it when someone else has done the work and I can just cut and sew without having to think. I do recommend this pattern. I kind of wish it came in my size.

A Little Holiday

It is school holidays so we have been to Albany for a few days. We had cold but sunny weather for the first few days so we walked and ran and tried to wear out children. Chris took the big two to the movies for the first time to see Toy Story 3 which they loved. We tried to see some whales, but they must have been far out at sea.

The weather was cold and rainy for the last day so we played inside with cousins.

I managed to disappear to Textile Traders and found a few good fabrics in their buy 2 get one free sale.

I thought about what I will make for the Down Under Doll Quilt Swap. So many ideas I can't commit to anything yet.

Today we have been cleaning and washing and after the girls painted we did a lot more washing. (Thanks goodness for crayola washable art supplies - the only paint and textas allowed in this house).

There was also a lot of skipping.

Tonight there will be more knitting. I love Tour time, I seem to get a lot of knitting done late at night. My hat is slowly getting bigger.

I cast on Little Miss Greejeans using Bendigo Rustic for Amelia.

Simple Dresses and Large Quilt Blocks

The last of the very quick and easy projects for the week (love a week of simple projects it seems like you achieved so much for very little sewing). Two simple shift dresses for Amelia and Grace. I used some beautifully soft corduroy I bought last year (I think it might be Robert Kaufman) and then lined the with some Liberty.

Now it is back to projects that are not so quick to finish. I have been playing around with big quilt blocks. I love the idea of taking the basic shape of a block like a rolling stone block or broken wheel block and adding to it to make quite a large block.

Patchwork Scarf

A quick scarf, cut out while talking to my sister on the phone.Using lots of small favourite bits of fabric including bits from Ink & Spindle, Kristen Doran and Pippijoe.
I cut some wool for the back about 7 inches by 56 inches and cut scraps of fabrics for the top 7 inches wide and various lengths. I sewed all the scraps together then sewed the top to the back leaving a gap. Turned it the right way out, ironed and then stitched around the edge. Finished.

Then I taught two 5 year olds to use the camera. Lots of pictures of toes and blurry walls but a few great pictures too.